High street recovery blown off course as footfall drops 6.1 per cent
Wind and rain blew the high street recovery off course this week as footfall dropped 6.1 per cent, according to figures from retail insight company Springboard.
The number of shoppers across all retail destinations fell by two per cent last week from the week before. Meanwhile, footfall rose by 2.8 per cent in shopping centres and 1.6 per cent in retail parks.
The UK’s footfall decline has been sorely noted by quieting high streets. Particularly in contrast with Scotland and Northern Ireland, which enjoyed footfall soaring by 74.9 per cent and 45.7 per cent, respectively.
“Footfall across UK retail destinations dipped a little last week from the week before, driven by fewer shoppers visiting high streets whilst in retail parks and shopping centres customer activity rose,” insights director at Springboard, Diana Wehrle, said.
“In part, this is likely to have been due to the rain and cooler temperatures in the second half of the week in a number of areas across the UK which will have deterred shoppers from external locations.”
The bank holiday weekend brought some relief for the retail sector, as 3.2 per cent more customers flocked to shop doors on Saturday and 7.2 per cent more on Sunday.
However, the UK’s Scottish and Northern Irish neighbours saw footfall more than double that level on the same days in the previous week, before retail had fully reopened.
Looking at data from the same week in 2019, footfall has fallen 25.9 per cent from 19.9 per cent in the week before. Retail parks also saw 2.9 per cent fewer shoppers than in 2019.
In less than a month since the UK’s retail sector reopened on 12 April, levels of shoppers are at nearly the same level as they were three months after the end of the first lockdown in 2020,
Cities outside of the capital saw a 20.9 per cent uptick in shoppers on Saturday and 31.1 per cent Sunday. However, in tourist destinations, customer traffic only lifted slightly on Sunday but dropped on Saturday.
“Activity rose in regional cities outside of London, whilst in tourist destinations and smaller high streets it declined, suggesting that the appeal of major stores that are present in large city centres was enough to offset the less favourable weather,” Wehrle added.
“The uplift in footfall in both Scotland and Northern Ireland following the opening of non-essential retail last week was significant, with these being the only areas of the UK where footfall rose from the week before.”